ArticleBMC research notes2021
Diverting less urgent utilizers of emergency medical services to primary care: is it feasible? Patient and morbidity characteristics from a cross-sectional multicenter study of self-referring respiratory emergency department consulters.
Article in BMC research notes, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Scoping review on alternative care options for patients calling the ambulance.BMC emergency medicine · 2026Pooled it
- [Predictability of patient disposition from emergency medical services triage categories: exploratory analysis of routine data].Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2026Article
- Comparing emergency medical service and walk-in patients in German emergency departments: a prospective multicentre survey.BMC emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Could low-acuity emergency medical services patients be redirected to primary care? Findings from a multi-center survey in Berlin, Germany.BMC emergency medicine · 2025Observational
- Observational
- Primary and secondary data in emergency medicine health services research - a comparative analysis in a regional research network on multimorbid patients.BMC medical research methodology · 2023Observational
- Optimizing Operation Time and Travel Distance for Motorcycle Ambulances in Emergency Medical Services.Prehospital and disaster medicine · 2023Article
- Methodological procedure based on quantitizing/liquefying: a case study to assess work climate in an emergency department.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Redirecting emergency medical services patients with unmet primary care needs: the perspective of paramedics on feasibility and acceptance of an alternative care path in a qualitative investigation from Berlin, Germany.BMC emergency medicine · 2022Article
- Emergency department consultations for respiratory symptoms revisited: exploratory investigation of longitudinal trends in patients' perspective on care, health care utilization, and general and mental health, from a multicenter study in Berlin, Germany.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Work Climate Scale in Emergency Services: Abridged Version.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveDiversion of less urgent emergency medical services (EMS) callers to alternative primary care (PC) is much debated. Using data from the EMACROSS survey of respiratory ED patients, we aimed to characterize self-referred EMS patients, compare these with non-EMS patients, and assess scope and acceptability of a potential redirection to alternative PC.
resultsOf n = 292 self-referred patients, n = 99 were transported by EMS. Compared to non-EMS patients, these were older, triaged more urgently and arrived out-of-hours more frequently. The share of chronically and severely ill patients was greater. Out-of-hours ED visit, presence of a chronic pulmonary condition as well as a hospital diagnosis of respiratory failure were identified as determinants of EMS utilization in a logistic model, while consultation for access and quality motives as well as migrant status decreased the probability. EMS-transported lower urgency outpatients visiting during regular physicians' hours were defined as potential PC cases and evaluated descriptively (n = 9). As a third was medically complex and potentially less suitable for PC, redirection potential could be estimated at only 6% of EMS cases. This would be reduced to 2% if considering patients' judgment concerning the appropriate setting. Overall, the scope for PC diversion of respiratory EMS patients seems limited.
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